TV & Children

Choosing Appropriate TV for Children

Ask yourself these questions when deciding what programs your children should watch:

Is the program educational?
Children have a lot to learn and educational programs can help them learn important skills that help prepare them for school and for life.

Is the program too complicated for children to understand?
A program's language, situations, ideas, and actions should be familiar to young children so they can follow the story.

Is violence the predominant way to solve conflict?
Children need to see characters using their words to communicate, cooperate, and compromise to solve problems and conflicts.

Are the characters diverse?
Look for programs that show diverse people in positive realistic situations, whether they are people with disabilities, from different parts of the world, or different gender, ages or races.

Are the characters role models for good behavior?
Children often imitate their favorite television characters. Choose programs that feature characters that act as you would like your children to act and who treat other as you would like your children to be treated.

Does the program present real world scenarios that children can identify with and learn from?
Look for programs that feature children involved in the same types of situations your own children face everyday: going to preschool, going to the doctor, sharing toys, trying new foods, etc.